QoS handover management for multimedia LEO satellite networks

Low earth orbit (LEO) satellite systems gained considerable interest towards the end of the previous decade by virtue of some of the appealing features that are endowed with, such as low propagation delay and the ability to communicate with handheld terminals. However, after the limited commercial success of the first networks of this kind, future satellite networks are now conceived as complementary rather than competitive to terrestrial networks. In this paper, we focus on one of the most influential factors in system performance, that is, the handover of a call. First, we provide a succinct review of the handover strategies that have been proposed in the literature. Then we propose two different satellite handover techniques for broadband LEO satellite systems that capitalize upon the satellite diversity that a system may provide. The proposed schemes cater for multimedia traffic and are based on the queuing of handover requests. Moreover, a deallocation scheme is also proposed according to which capacity reservation requests are countermanded when the capacity that they strive to reserve is unlikely to be used. Simulation studies further document and confirm the positive characteristics of the proposed handover schemes.     

The simulation modelling and performance analysis of low earth orbit satellite communication networks for personal communications

This paper extends previous research efforts related to the simulation performance modelling and analysis of satellite communication networks. Specifically, the use of low earth orbit (LEO) satellite networks for personal communications is examined. Six different satellite constellation configurations are investigated in a packet‐switched operating environment. Performance metrics examined are the end‐to‐end packet delay and the utilization of satellite channels in the dynamic environment. Realistic and accurate models of the physical satellite network and its terrestrial transmitters require that numerous operating characteristics and assumptions be specified. These are based on proposed design requirements of commercial systems, such as Iridium. Via the use of simulation, we show the relative delay and utilization performance of differing satellite network architectures. From these simulation models, mathematical metamodels are derived for the system delays. These innovative models are used to predict the delay performance of different network architectures not previously simulated. Comparison of these metamodels with simulation results show that metamodels provide an accurate means for performance prediction. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

低轨星座卫星通信系统中多业务条件下的非充分保证切换策略

该文提出了一种适用于低轨星座卫星通信系统多业务条件下的非充分保证切换策略。该策略在小于一个小区最大驻留时间的时间间隔内为到达小区的呼叫安排和预定信道,在呼叫结束环节作为补充策略对存在切换失败风险的信道进行调整。提出了策略在多业务条件下具体的实施方法,根据实时的切换呼叫性能调整策略的非充分程度。通过仿真,分析比较了不同程度非充分保证切换策略的QoS性能,验证了动态自适应调整非充分程度值的IGH策略的有效性。仿真结果表明,相对于保证切换策略,新策略以存在微小切换失败概率为代价,换取了新呼叫阻塞概率的显著降低,是一种适用于多业务低轨卫星通信系统的信道分配策略。     

A modified power control scheme for remedying the effects of traffic nonuniformity in LEO satellite communications systems

It has been shown in our previous studies that the geographical traffic nonuniformity considerably affects the performance of the low earth orbit satellite communications systems. In this paper, a new scheme for improving the throughput characteristics of these systems at nonuniform traffic distribution is proposed. In this method, some parts of the users under the satellite which is flying over the area with high traffic load are assigned to its neighbor satellites with lower transmitting power levels. It is shown that the method equalizes the traffic loads of the satellites to some degree and, hence, can improve the throughput characteristics of the system.     

一种低轨卫星通信天线多工作模式波束实现技术

在分析低轨卫星通信系统中不同链路所需波束类型的基础上,将所需波束类型归纳为宽波束和可切换点波束两大类,进而提出了用一副相控阵天线来实现这两种波束的方式。以16×16单元顺次旋转切角阵为研究对象,采用最小二乘优化方法综合阵列方向图,得到对地等通量覆盖的宽波束;合理设计波束分布,采用相控阵常规的波束切换功能,得到点波束覆盖图。仿真结果表明,宽波束和可切换点波束均能实现对星下±55°范围的覆盖。相比常规的多天线方式,这种多工作模式波束实现技术大大降低了卫星系统的复杂度,降低了设计、集成、测试和维护卫星天线系统的时间和成本,降低了卫星平台天线布局的难度,因此具有重要意义。     

Topological design,routing and capacity dimensioning for ISL networks in broadband LEO satellite systems

This paper considers the network design of intersatellite link (ISL) networks in broadband LEO satellite systems, where the major challenge is the topology dynamics. First, a general method to design convenient ISL topologies for connection‐oriented operation is presented, and a reference topology for numerical studies is derived. A permanent virtual topology is then defined on top of the orbiting physical one, thus forming a framework for discrete‐time dynamic traffic routing. On this basis, heuristic and optimization approaches for the combined routing and dimensioning task, operating on discrete time steps, are presented and their performance is numerically compared. It is shown that minimizing the worst‐case link capacity is an appropriate target function, which can be formulated as linear optimization problem with linear constraints. Using linear programming (LP) techniques, the dimensioning results are clearly better than with simple heuristic approaches. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

一种低轨卫星动态链路预算评估模型

针对低轨卫星透明转发通信系统,提出了一种动态链路预算评估模型,为透明转发卫星互联网设计提供参考。该模型给出了星地透明转发两跳链路信噪比（Signal-to-Noise Ratio,SNR）计算方法,在计算信号传播链路中自由空间路径损耗、阴影衰落、大气吸收、云雾衰减和降雨衰减的基础上,分析了我国大陆地区在全球典型低轨卫星星座覆盖下的两跳链路SNR,以及不同位置用户解调所需的信关站等效全向辐射功率要求。仿真结果表明,该方法考虑了馈电链路和用户链路的共同作用,能较好地评估卫星星座设计、用户地理位置对两跳链路SNR的影响。     

A Handover Strategy in the LEO Satellite-Based Constellation Networks with ISLs

A new handover strategy named minimal-hops handover(MHH) strategy for the lowearth orbit(LEO) satellite constellations networks equipped with inter-satellite links(ISLs) is proposed.MHH strategy,which is based on the hops of the end-to-end connection paths and makes good use of theregularity of the constellation network topology,can appropriately combine the handover procedure withrouting and efficiently solve the inter-satellite handover issue.Moreover,MHH strategy can providequality of services(QoS) guarantees to some extent.The system performances of the MHH strategy,suchas time propagation delay and handover frequency,are evaluated and compared with that of otherprevious strategies.The simulation results show that MHH strategy performs better than other previoushandover strategies.     

On the performance of UNB for machine‐to‐machine low earth orbit (LEO) satellite communications

Ultra narrow band (UNB) is a widely used technology for machine‐to‐machine and low‐power wide‐area communications. Its properties, long range with small RF power, make it naturally attractive for satellite communications but also draw new challenges compared with terrestrial systems where this technology is already deployed. Indeed, the main advantage of UNB signals, their small bandwidth, makes them more sensitive to frequency drifts that are particularly present in the case of LEO satellite systems. It also implies the use of a random access method in which the carrier frequency is a parameter unknown by the receiver. In this paper, we propose a general semianalytical model to evaluate the performance of a terrestrial or satellite system using UNB technology, taking into account the multiuser interference and the frequency drift. This model is then used to assess the performance (packet loss ratio and throughput) on the return link medium access control (MAC) of a representative LEO satellite system. With our model, we analyze the effect of frequency drift on the system performance. This paper also proposes to investigate more deeply the multiuser interference modeling in order to estimate accurately the performances of a UNB system in terms of bit error rate (BER). We propose a semianalytical approach to study the interference in presence of arbitrary power imbalance that includes the effect of frequency offset and frequency drift and applicable for any linear modulation and any pulse‐shaping filter. The expression of the multiuser interference is established in the general case. We then propose a methodology to compare this exact model to the Gaussian interference approximation (mainly used through the central limit theorem) in order to assess its accuracy.     

A new model for the description of gate voltage and temperaturedependence of gate induced drain leakage (GIDL) in the low electricfield region [DRAMs]

Gate induced drain leakage (GIDL) is frequently described by band-to-band tunneling. This mechanism is insensitive to temperature and occurs only under strong electric fields. Under the condition of small electric fields, however, GIDL exhibits a strong dependence on temperature, which is due to trap-assisted generation of electron hole pairs. This generation mechanism is based on the Shockley-Read-Hall (SRH) equation involving field dependent emission probabilities due to Fowler-Nordheim (FN) and Poole-Frenkel effect. The proposed model of an acceptor-like interface trap is able to reproduce the experimental results. Temperature and voltage dependencies for a p-MOSFET are correctly calculated for one single fitting parameter, i.e., the interface trap density corresponding to N_t=1×10¹⁴ (1/eV m²)     

A model for the simulation of energy gains when using distributed maximum power point tracking (DMPPT) in photovoltaic arrays

Over the past years, the photovoltaic (PV) market has been invaded with numerous power optimizers and micro‐inverters that claim large energy gains when used in PV generators with shading or module mismatch. These products provide distributed maximum power point tracking (DMPPT), normally at module level, allowing the maximum power to be extracted from each PV module. This topology can be beneficial in situations where the PV generator is shaded or when there is large module mismatch. However, it is not clear that this power gain will result in energy improvements over a whole year or the lifetime of the system. This paper presents a very detailed and precise model for simulating energy gains with DMPPT as well as its verification and simulation results with different shading profiles, showing the possible energy gain over a whole year. Simulation results show that the yearly energy gain is much lower than the maximum power gain. However, interesting yearly gains of up to 12% are obtained in one of the simulations. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.